Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Cherry Valley grades D overall, 741st of 767 graded towns in Illinois, mostly because of schools and safety. Its schools rank behind 95% of the state's. It reports more crime per resident than 94% of U.S. towns, including 11 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. What it does well: it has 17 miles of trail and 37% conserved land. Cherry Valley’s property crime rate is 35 per 1,000 residents, above both the Illinois town median (7.9) and the median of U.S. towns (9.9). Cherry Valley's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 87% of U.S. towns. Deer Run Forest Preserve, at 519 acres with 5.5 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
Where Cherry Valley beats most towns.
37.4% of the town is conserved land, across 11 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Illinois), ordered by how far Cherry Valley is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 349 in 1900, 2,905 in 2020. The archive holds 10 old photos and papers going back to 1933 and 4 maps from 1918 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Cherry Valley, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 12, 2025.
Ordered by what stands out in Cherry Valley.
Cherry Valley carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of Illinois (mostly inland flooding), draws workers from Rockford and beyond and keeps more of its land conserved than most of Illinois.
Its 2,059 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in any other Illinois town. Its A+ for the outdoors ranks #18 of 768 in Illinois.
Cherry Valley’s trail density is 2.0 miles per square mile. 17 miles of trail in 11 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Deer Run Forest Preserve | 5.5 mi | 519 |
| 2. Oak Ridge Forest Preserve | 3.4 mi | 297 |
| 3. Blackhawk Springs Forest Preserve | 2.3 mi | 400 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Property crime runs at 35 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Illinois rate, most of it theft. Reported crimes fell from 161 to 112 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The violent crime rate in Cherry Valley is 3.8 per 1,000 residents. Cherry Valley reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 94% report less.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
2,568 jobs are based in Cherry Valley, 2.1 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Most working residents leave Cherry Valley for work: only 3% work in town. Since 2013, Cherry Valley has lost 178 jobs, to 2,568 in 2023. The top destinations are Rockford (41%), Belvidere (7%) and Loves Park (3%).
| Cherry Valley | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 2.5% | 8.4% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $75,000 | $83,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 94% of Illinois towns, with expected losses of about $450 per resident a year; that rating is what its B for hazard risk is built on.
Since 1999, 4 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Cherry Valley.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Cherry Valley beats the Illinois average on 10 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 7. 15% of Cherry Valley adults report frequent mental distress.
| Cherry Valley | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 17% | 17% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 35% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 82% | 78% | 79% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 18% | 16% |
| What stands out | Cherry Valley | IL |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 8.4% | 13.2% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 10.3% | 15.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11.4% | 7.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Cherry Valley has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 14° and about 37 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Adults 18 to 34 are 27% of residents (23% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 34% of residents (39% statewide). 30% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 38% across Illinois. 20% of residents are 65 or older in Cherry Valley.
| Cherry Valley | Illinois towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 18% | 22% | 22% |
| Median age | 45.1 years | 40.7 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 20% | 19% | 18% |
52% women, 48% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4.9 points. Across Illinois, 50.6% of residents are women.
| Cherry Valley | IL | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.3% | 11.5% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 6% | 10.4% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 11% | 9.1% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 16% | 13.6% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 4.3% | 13.3% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 15.9% | 12.4% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 14.2% | 12.8% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.3% | 10% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.1% | 7% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.9% | 9.5% | 10.4% |
| High school | 33.1% | 25.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 23.5% | 19.2% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 6.5% | 8.3% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 21% | 22.6% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 9% | 15.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,900, single groups can be off by several points
60.4% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 47.9% across Illinois.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Cherry Valley. Close and well known come first.
23 mi MuseumIllinois Railway Museum
7 mi Stadium & arenaBMO Center
6 mi GardenAnderson Japanese Gardens
24 mi TheatreEgyptian Theatre, DeKalb
38 mi National Historic SiteRonald Reagan Boyhood Home National Historic Site
38 mi Theme parkSanta's Village Amusement & Water ParkIllinois Railway Museum: The original uploader was Slambo at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 2.0 · BMO Center: SimLibrarian, CC0 · Anderson Japanese Gardens: M. Readey, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Egyptian Theatre, DeKalb: Andy McMurray, CC BY 2.5 · Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home National Historic Site: Teemu008 from Palatine, Illinois, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Santa's Village Amusement & Water Park: Martin Lewison from The Hague, Zuid-Holland, The Netherlands, CC BY-SA 2.0
3 within 15 miles of the center of Cherry Valley
About 4 of every 100 Cherry Valley residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Illinois.
Where Cherry Valley’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Village in Illinois, US
Cherry Valley is a village of 8.72 square miles (22.6 km2) that lies primarily in Winnebago County, Illinois. Approximately ten percent of the village is within Boone County. The village is within the Rockford, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area, and borders the southeast side of Rockford. It is also within the Kishwaukee River valley. The population was 2,905 at the 2020 census, down from 3,162 as of the 2010 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Cherry Valley.
| Town | IL rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cherry Valley | #741 | D | C | D | D | B+ |
| Rockford · Rockford Township | #767 | D− | C+ | D− | D | D |
| Belvidere | #658 | C− | C+ | B+ | C− | C− |
| Cherry Valley Township | #720 | D | C+ | — | D | C+ |
Cherry Valley Township reports no FBI crime data of its own. Rockford Township and Rockford are one community, graded once. Compare Cherry Valley with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Cherry Valley grades D overall, better than 7% of U.S. towns and #741 of 767 in Illinois. It grades B+ for health, D for safety and D for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. The typical home is worth about $233,000, 21% below the Illinois typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
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